Playing “fetch the ball” with a dog can be a physically demanding task. To make the game more interesting the ball should be thrown a great distance. When the dog brings it back, the ball is usually covered with slimy dog saliva. It must be picked up from the ground and thrown again. Several patents describe ball throwing devices, however none of them provides the advantages of this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,750 by Rosin is a device for scooping up dog feces. It cannot be used to throw a ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,716 by Kwok describes a ping pong ball throwing gun. This invention is limited to shooting ping-pong balls. It cannot be used to pick up balls from the floor. It relates to scooping up various types of refuse, especially animal waste, and other objects such as a ball. This device however cannot shoot balls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,979 by Bau is mainly a scoop device. It can only throw a ball only by swinging the handle and manually releasing the ball from its grip.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,724 by Langer is a ping-pong ball throwing device. It cannot be used to pick up balls from the floor.
US patent application 2002/0137581 by Wang is a baseball equipped with a mechanism for throwing balls. It is not equipped for picking up balls from the floor.
U.S. Pat. Des. 425,593 and Des. 428,085 describe a pet ball scoop handle. This invention however is impractical to pick up a ball. In addition, throwing the ball requires the user to swing his arm resulting in an inaccurate aim.
None of the prior art offers the functionality, utility, simplicity and economy of use of this invention. Further features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention over the prior art will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description claims and accompanying drawings.